The Aug. 21 solar eclipse brought out astronomers highly professional and decidedly amateur, and those who gathered at McLean High Schools observatory had their pick of ways to enjoy the spectacle.

The schools outdoor courtyard bustled with activity far in advance of the peak eclipse time in mid-afternoon. Astronomy teacher Dean Howarth was tickled by the high turnout.

Its great. Theres been a swarm of people here for two hours, he said. The goal is to get people this interested in science all the time.

Scores of children and adults donned special protective eyewear to look safely at the eclipse and some put one of those dark lenses over their smartphones cameras to take pictures of the phenomenon.

Gazing through the glasses was a bit eerie. It seemed as if the whole universe consisted of an orange crescent and impenetrable blackness.

The courtyards prime viewing location was its refurbished observatory. Visitors entered the lower level of the structure and watched news coverage from around the country of the eclipse on a large, flat-screen television.

The line for the observatory upstairs was long and the crowded conditions were stifling, but those who were waiting put things in perspective.

I shouldnt complain, said math teacher Emily Jaffa. Most schools dont have an observatory.

After ascending a steep staircase, visitors got to view the eclipse through a 14-inch-diameter reflector telescope that was covered with a deep crimson hydrogen-alpha filter. The view filled the field of vision and offered extraordinary detail of the sun.

Weve seen every planet in the solar system with this scope, so its pretty capable, Howarth said.

The only thing missing was a camera mount for the viewing lens. Some tried to take photos through the lens with their smartphones and digital cameras, with mixed results.

Such eclipses usually happen about twice in a given lifetime, and people often have to travel to see one, Howarth said. By good fortune, another eclipse in 2024 will cast a shadow from the countrys middle area up toward New England, he said.

Howarth may travel to be within the line of totality for that eclipse.

It was easier to sacrifice knowing there was another one coming up, he said.

Eclipses usually happen twice a year, but most often in places where there are no people, such as over the Pacific Ocean, Howarth said.

The Earth is pretty big, and the shadow the moon casts is pretty small, under 20 miles, he said. The line of totality for this eclipse ran from Salem, Ore., to Charleston, S.C.

Back outside, McLean Highs faculty had arranged multiple ways to experience the eclipse. Some visitors peered into cereal boxes that had been turned into pinhole cameras by cutting out one section for viewing and covering another hole with tinfoil that had a pinprick to let in light.

Solar projectors showed the crescent getting thinner and thinner as the big moment approached. These devices regularly had to be repositioned slightly owing to the Earths revolution.

Elsewhere, pegboard suspended above the ground projected hundreds of tiny white crescents in evenly spaced rows and columns. Pedestrians headed out to their cars afterward could see the same effect, albeit less orderly, from sunlight that had penetrated small gaps in the leaves of overhead trees.

The eclipse only was blocked a few times by clouds. The weathers timing was fortunate, as heavy rainstorms rolled through about half an hour after the eclipses peak.

Observers young and old stared up at the sky and cheered when the eclipse peaked at 2:42 p.m.

Andrew Diller, who teaches astronomy and oceanography at McLean High, said the eclipse was a rare opportunity to bring people together to witness an astronomic spectacle.

This is a cool thing that doesnt come around very often, said McLean High student Devin English.

Classmate Cate Pearce, who took astronomy during her last school year, valued the phenomenon for scientific reasons.

The last total eclipse like this in 1918 was when they proved Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity, Pearce said.

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Eclipse allows everyone to be an astronomer for the day - Inside NoVA